There are questions about the contract concluded between the Australian government and the French company Naval Group, which provides for the construction of 12 non-nuclear submarines, says the American edition of The Drive.
The publication notes that over the past few years, the value of the agreement has increased from 40 to almost 70 billion dollars. The first submarines were planned to be delivered before the beginning of the next decade. "At the same time, the French government continued to insist that the acquisition of six nuclear submarines of the Barracuda type would cost a little more than ten billion dollars, which only raised additional questions about the state of the Australian contract with Naval Group," the newspaper writes.
The Drive recalls that the Naval Group offered Australia to create non-nuclear submarines of the Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A type based on nuclear submarines of the Barracuda type, which would be equipped with an air-independent power plant (VNEU). The publication notes that, unlike the VNEU, the nuclear power plant provides the submarine with an almost unlimited range of action. "Boats with nuclear power plants are faster and are able to stay underwater for a period of time limited only by on-board supplies and maintenance requirements," recalls The Drive.
The author of the material admits that the receipt of nuclear submarines by Australia, which signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, will cause criticism from China.
Within the framework of the AUKUS alliance, announced in September by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, the parties plan to exchange defense technologies with each other. In particular, Canberra will receive technologies for creating nuclear submarines from Washington or London.
Ivan Potapov